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Sydney - Sydney will kick-start the global New Year's Eve
party with its biggest fireworks display ever, but fear of jihadist attacks has
cast a pall with Brussels scrapping celebrations and many cities tightening
security.

The show from the Harbour Bridge and Opera House in
Australia's largest city is traditionally the world's first major event to ring
in the New Year.

Despite safety concerns, organisers are expecting a one
million plus crowd before the chimes of midnight move across Asia, the Middle
East, Africa, Europe and finally the Americas.

"It just keeps getting better every year," said
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, "with 2 400 more fireworks on the bridge
than ever before and a host of exciting new effects lined up".

The 2016 theme is "City of Colour" and seven
tonnes of fireworks will go up in smoke, including 11 000 shells, 25 000
shooting comets and 100 000 individual "pyrotechnics effects".

Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore and other Asian cities may
rival Sydney's pyrotechnic splash, but Brunei offers a sober evening after
banning Christmas in a shift to hardline Islamic law.

Jakarta remains on high alert after anti-terror police
foiled detailed plans for an alleged New Year suicide attack in the Indonesian
capital.

High security in Europe

At the heart of Europe, annual festivities and fireworks in
Brussels have been cancelled as the Belgian capital - home to Nato and the
European Union - remains on high alert.

"It's better not to take any risks," mayor Yvan
Mayeur said on Wednesday after police arrested two people suspected of plotting
to launch attacks during the festivities at Brussels landmarks.

The French capital, still reeling from the November 13
slaughter of 130 people, has also cancelled its fireworks display.

But authorities agreed France's biggest public gathering
since the attacks can go ahead on the Champs Elysees avenue, with bolstered
security.

"The people of Paris and France need this symbolic
passage into the New Year," said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo.

"After what our city has lived through, we have to send
a signal to the world," she told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.

In Turkey, police have detained two Islamic State suspects
allegedly planning to stage attacks in the centre of Ankara which is expected
to be packed on New Year's Eve.

Meanwhile, in Moscow police will for the first time close
off Red Square where tens of thousands of revellers traditionally gather.

"It's no secret that Moscow is one of the choice
targets for terrorists," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said recently.

In Madrid, thousands of people will flock to Puerta del Sol
square, however police will limit the number allowed in to just 25 000.

London is also trying to control the crowds by again
charging for access to central riverside areas to see the fireworks, with more
than 113 000 10-pound (US$15) tickets already sold.

Berliners will do better with about a million expected at
the Brandenburg Gate for a free mega-street party.

Party at the pyramids

Cairo meanwhile is trying desperately to attract tourists to
bolster the economy.

The government is staging celebrations in front of the
pyramids near the Egyptian capital, with ambassadors, artists and intellectuals
all invited.

Egypt has been in turmoil since the 2011 uprising but was
further hit by the October 31 crash of a Russian airliner over the Sinai
killing 224 people.

On the nearby Gaza Strip, the Islamist group Hamas has
banned public New Year's Eve parties.

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